Earl Grey Chocolate Tart

A square piece of a chocolate tart topped with whipped cream on a wooden board.

4.67 from 3 votes

Learn how to make a beautiful easy Earl Grey chocolate tart with whipped cream and a graham cracker crust. You can make this a no-bake dessert by chilling the graham cracker crust instead of baking it! The mascarpone helps stabilize the whipped cream topping so that it doesn't weep.

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Chill time4

Total Time4 55

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings:

Calories: 337kcal

Author: Janice Lawandi

Equipment

Ingredients

Graham cracker crust

255 grams graham cracker crumbs
25 grams granulated sugar
85 grams unsalted butter melted

Earl Grey chocolate ganache fiilling

250 mL half-and-half cream (10 % fat)
30 grams loose leaf Earl Grey tea more or less depending on how strong a taste you want
340 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content) chopped
57 grams unsalted butter cut into pieces
2.5 mL pure vanilla extract
0.625 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Earl grey whipped cream

250 grams mascarpone cheese
188 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
50 grams icing sugar
12 grams loose leaf Earl Grey tea finely chopped

Metric - US

Instructions

Graham cracker crumb crust

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Have a 9-inch square tart pan with removable bottom ready (like this one from Amazon), placed on a baking sheet so that you can easily transfer to and from the oven.
In a medium bowl mix the crust ingredients until the butter has evenly coated all the crumbs.
Pour the crust mixture in the tart pan, and press it out firmly and evenly all over the base and up the sides of the pan.
Bake the crust for about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool. If you are unsure about this step, check out my tips on how to remove a tart from a tart pan.

Earl Grey chocolate ganache filling

Begin by simmering (not boiling) the cream in a small saucepan with the tea bags for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat. Remove the pan from the stove, but leave the tea bags in while you work on the chocolate.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave on power level 5, microwaving for 1 minute at a time, then stirring, and repeating, until it is all melted and smooth.
Remove the tea bags from the cream and add the tea-steeped hot cream to the chocolate mixture and stir until it is smooth (if the cream was a little cold, and the mixture appears curdled, just microwave it again for a couple minutes on power level 5, stirring every minute).
Add the vanilla and salt.
Let the chocolate ganache you’ve just made sit on the counter, for an hour or so, to cool and set just enough that it is still pourable, but not super liquid (you know what I mean?).
Transfer the ganache to the tart shell using a rubber spatula, being sure to not get chocolate on the edges, and also to not disturb the delicate edges of the crust.
Let cool completely, cover, and refrigerate until the filling is set, about 4 hours and up to 8 hours before proceeding with the recipe.

Earl Grey whipped cream

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the mascarpone, cream, sugar, and tea leaves on low, to combine, then on medium-high, until the mixture is thick and holds firm peaks. Don’t overbeat, or you’ll make butter (tasty, but not what we’re going for here…).
With an offset spatula, spread the topping over the set tart, leaving pretty swirls and peaks of cream. Don’t worry if a little ganache is peaking through the cream. It looks better like that.

Notes

This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
For a no-bake chocolate tart, skip the graham cracker crust baking step and instead chill the crust thoroughly while you make the filling. The no-bake graham cracker crust might be slightly more delicate than a baked graham cracker crust, but the crust will still be sturdy enough to unmold and slice once the filling has properly set.
For the dark chocolate, I used Cacao Barry Ocoa 70 % dark chocolate. Ocoa is a dark chocolate produced by Cacao Barry. It has a 70% cocoa content and is not overly sweet! Ocoa is available at IGA stores in Quebec, or you can order it online from Vanilla Food Company and have it shipped across the US & Canada!

Nutrition